Conveyer



Jan. 16, 192.3. 1,442,718

J. W, FREE.

CONVEYER.

FILED MAR 4- 1920. 6 SHEETSSHEET I WITNESSES mvan-ron J. W. FREE CONVEYER. FILED MAR. 4, 1920 Jan. 16, 1923.

'6 SHEETSSHEET 2 I m m m WITIEIIS Jan. 16, 1923.

J. W, FREE CONVEYER. FILED MAR, 4, I 920 E SHEETS-SHEET 3 J 033mm Jan. 16, 1923.

J. W. FREE.

CQNVEYER, FILED MAR. 4. 1920.

E SHEETSSHEET 4 FIE'JSZ- INVEN'IOII WITNESSES Jan. 16, 1923. 1,442,718

dc: W. FREE.

FlLED MAR- 4. 1920 6 SHEETSSHEET 5 WITNESES INVENTQR :0. 5w WWW 7% 7 Patented Jan. 16, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. FREE, OF WOODLAWN, PENNSYLVANIAtASSIGNOR TO JONES & LAUGHLIN STEEL COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION 01 PENN- SYLVANIA.

coNvnYnn.

Application filed March 4, 1920. Serial No. 863,300.

To all whom it may conce'm:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. I nan, residing at Woodlawn, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the 5 United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Conveyers, of which improvements the following is a specification.

My invention relates to conveyors. I have applied it to the handling of sheet steel in a rolling mill, and shall show and describe it so applied; but it is of more general applicability, as will on examination be apparent.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. I

' is a view in side elevation of my conveyor,

adapted to the handling of sheet metal in a rolling mill. Certainassociated parts are here shown in vertical section. Fig. II is a plan view of the same apparatus; Fig. III

is a. view, partly in side elevation, partly in vertical section, on the plane indicated by the line III-III, Fi II, and showing, to larger scale, art of the apparatus shown in Figs. I and II. In Fig. III certain parts appear in active position, relative to the material under treatment, which in Fig. I

appear in inactive position. FigfIV is a view in vertical section, on the plane indicated by the line IV-IV, F ig. III; Fig. V is a similar view, on the plane indicated by the line V-V, Fig. III. Fig. VI is a view to still larger scale of one of the suction members, seen in vertical central section;

Fig. VII is a view in transverse section, on

the )lane indicated at VII-VII, Figs. V

and VI, and to half scale, as compared with Fig. VI, showing in plan the trip which controls this suction member. Fig. VIII is a view in side elevation .t'lt pertain connee ftion being shown in section and to larger scale, of a certain water valve. which in Fig. I appears in its assembled position; Fig. IX is a view in longitudinal section through one of the magnetic rollers which, as presently will appear, enter into the organization. The scale is greater than that of Fi s. IV and V. Figs. X-XIV inclusive are iagrammatic views, illustrating the relative action of the several suction memhere. These views are all taken from the same viewpoint (beyond the ri ht-hand end of the machine as shown in igs. II and III), and show the assembly of suction members in front elevation.

The machine here shown is designed to pick up by suction the top sheet of a pile of sheets of steel and, raising it, to bring it within the effective field of a. succession of magnetized rollers arranged in parallelism. These rollers, having drawn the sheet to contact with their nether surfaces, and being themselves in uniform rotation (the suction members being now out of the way), impel the sheet to the desired point of delivery. For example, sheets of steel in the course of fabrication, delivered from the hot mill, are pickled and annealed, and are then conveniently gathered in piles; in these piles they, are conveyed to the coldrolling mill; and at the cold-rollin mill) they are icked up one by one and ed by hand to the mill pass. The pile rests ordinarily on a suitable platform car on which it is conveyed, and the feeding operation involves raising the sheets one by one and then projecting them horizontally to the mill pass. My machine is designed to do this feeding" mechanically, and with certainty and precision.

I shall describe, first, suction means of raising sheets of steel one by one from a pile; I shall then describe, in its correlation with the suction raising means, magnetic means" for impelling the elevated sheet in transverse direction; finally, I shall describe certain accessory instrumentalities, not essential to the invention in its general a plicability, but advantageous in sheet mi service-accessories which the user of my invention may employ at his discretion-.-;

neverthetess, accessories in which too specific invention is found.

The suction raising means include a member adapted to engage the upper surface of the top sheet of a pile and to adhere thereto by suction, and instrumentalities for raising the suction member and with it the sheet to which it adheres. A number of suction members will preferably be employed together; and, as has already been intimated certain correlations in operation are adopted to effect particular ends. The particular number is not primarily important; in the machine of the drawings, four are used the number might be greater or less. F our, however, meet satisfactorily the conditions of service. One who is familiar with sheet mills will gather at a glance from Figs. III, IV, and V all that need be indicated, as to absolute and relative dimensions. These four suction members alternately descend upon and make adhesion upon the top sheet of a. pile, and then, rising, lift the top sheet from the pile. The four suction members are indicated in the drawings 1, 2, B, 4.

These four members are caused to rise and fall by the rotation of a shaft 6; the connections, bymeans of which a certain order sequence in rise and fall is achieved will here be noted in passing. Members 1 and 2 consist of lengths of pipe vertically carried in suitable supports, terminating below in suction cups with rims of soft and preferably elastic material, such as rubber. These have play in their bearings, and when unrestrained descend hy gravity to the limit of permissible movement. These two members are engaged, through collars 6, 7, by lever arms 8, 9, which lever arms, pivoted conveniently on a common shaft, are swung, in unison with another lever arm 10, and the lever arm 10 is swung by the turning of a cam 11. secured to shaft 5. As cam 11 turns, the suction members 1 and 2 are alternately raised by mechanically applied force, and allowed to descend by gravity. By referrin to Fig. IV, it will be observed of the col ars 6 and 7 that the latter permits within fixed limits a freedom of play between lever arm and collar which is not permitted in the case of the former. The consequence of this is that the lifting strain comes first upon suction member 1, and then after member 1 has already begun to rise it comes upon member 2.

Suction members 3 and 4 are carried in a common vertically movable cross-head 12. This cross-head is positively driven both in ascent and descent, by means of crank arms 13 secured to shaft 5 and connected to the cross-head throng 'links 14. It is to be noted that, according] suction members 3, 4. raised positively li e members 1 and 2, are not allowed to descend freely by gravity, but, unlike members 1 and 2. are driven downward as well as upward by mechanicallv applied force.

be connection of suction member to cross-head is illustrated in Fig. VI. This is a section through suction member 3, speclfically; but the construction of the two members and the manner of connection to the cross-head is, in the main, identical. The features peculiar to member 3 will be duly noted. Both suction members are alike (and. thus far, like the suction members 1 downward traverse. Thereafter. at a,

and 2) in that each consists of a vertically disposed length of ipe, terminating below in a suction cu iach suction member 3 and 4 has, rigidly secured to it a block 15, and block 15 is carried by cross head 12. by a connection which is yielding in one direction and rigid in the other. To this end. block 15 is disposed within a cylinder 16. carried in cross-head 12, and normally held to the lower end thereof by the tension of a spring 17. Thus it will be seen that the suction member is carried by the cross-head as that member moves up and down' and, furthermore, while the lifting strain is unyielding, the presence of the s )ring 17 allows the cross head 12 to descen further. after the suction member itself has come to rest, in engagement with a pile of sheets. and in such further descent to compress spring 17. It will be remarked that. by virtue of the lost motion in the connections between shaft 5 and suction member 2. and by virtue of the spring-backed play of suction members 3 and 4 in cross-head 12, not only will the particular ends presently to he described be effected, but the suction apparatus as a whole will adapt itself to minor irregularities of the surface presented for their conjoint action-and this'is important, for a pile of sheets may present an upper surface which is concave or convex or substantially level, or be otherwise variable in contour.

Suction member 3 is further characterized (and herein it differs from member 4) in having a latch which in the operation of the machine automatically opens and closes, to control still more minutely the movement of member 3. In the member 3 itself is a notch 18, and, pivoted in cross-head 12, is a spring-backed finger 19. When in the descent of cross-head 12, suction member 3 having already made contact with the pile of sheets, and spring 17 being under increasing tension, notch 18 comes into align-- ment with finger 19, the finger springs into the notch, and so locks cross-head and suction member together. This occurs when the descending cross-head reaches the limit of its redetermined point in the ascent, the free tind of the finger 19, making engagement with a suitably shaped abutment 20, the finger is swung. the engagement in notch 18 broken, and the tension of spring 17 is exerted to give a sudden limited downward thrust to the otherwise rising suction member. The purpose and effect of this will presently be explained. It will, however, be noted that, in consequence of the'mounting now described of suction members 3 and 4 upon the cross-head which carries them, the members cmne sumessively in action, and lifting is effected, as cross-head 12 rises, first through member 3 and, after an innumerical order, 1, 2, 3, 4. Cam and crank arm are further so shaped and relatively arranged that members 1 and 2, approaching the limit of their rise, are overtaken by members 3 and 4, and so the lifted sheet is presented in substantially horizontal osition to the magnetic members presentl y to e described. From the several suction members 1, 2, 3, and 4 flexible pneumatic connections, 21, 23, and 24 lead to a neumatic cylinder 25, in which is a piston w ose stem is linked conveniently to one of the crank arms 13. The piston is so arranged that b the turning of shaft 5 suction is exerted t \rough the connections enumerated and the connected suction members, at the time when lifting force is exerted on the suction members.

With particular attention to Fig. III, it will be observed that a half turn of shaft 5 in clockwise direction will carry the suction members from their lowermost position (which is the position shown in Fig, III) to their highest position, and that during the first quarter of this half turn the piston within cylinder 25 will be impelled 1n one direction (to the left), and during the second quarter it will be impelled in opposite direction. During the first quarter, suction is applied; during the second, suction is relieved, and instead air is blown through the suction members. The description of the remainder of the apparatus is at this point so far anticipated, as to note that,

when shaft 5 has turned through the first quarter of its revolution and the suction members have accordingly risen half way, the sheet which has been raised has been brought to position within the effective range of the magnetic conveyer. The further rise of the suction members carries them out of the way, allowing the sheet to be carried away transversely before the suction members descend again. Incidentally, the reversal of pneumatic pressure and the blowing through the suction pipes, which follows immediately when the limit of the suction movement of the piston in cylinder 25 is reached, is advantageous, to ensure the release of the sheet from the suction members-their essential work being then done and the sheet being now at the disposal of the magnetic conveying means.

From a theoretical consideration it might seem that blowing would not ensue immediately upon the reversal in a direction of the piston of cylinder 25. Practically however this is the case. ithout going into the matter of possible leakage at the rims .of the suction cups, it will suiiice to say that the cups themselves are such in dimensions and are made of such material, and are so related in size to the size of the cylinder 25, and the cylinder 25 is itself so positioned and the whole so related to the weight of the sheet to be raised, that in consequence and effect-immediately, or substantially so, on the reversal of the piston in its reciprocation in, cylinder 25, suction will be broken and the lowing action described will be set u It would manifestiy be a simple matter to mount and operate this plurality of suckers in such manner that they should descend, exert suction, rise, and release from suction, all in unison, and it remains to indicate why the elaborate succession of action which has been minutely described, is resorted to.

Such articles as sheet metal, because of thinness, weight when piled, initially high temperature, and subsequent cooling, tend to adhere together; and when the top sheet is raised, it tends to carry with it underlying adhering sheets. I have discovered t at by raising the sheet at one corner first, I relieve whatever suction might otherwise arise tending to hold the lower sheet fast to-the upper, and further that by giving to the sheet.when lifted clear of the pile a sudden undulation I break it free, in case the next lower sheet remains still fast to it, whatever be the reason.

eferring again, on this point, to the drawings, it will be remembered, first, that 00 the suction members begin to lift successively, in the order 1, 2, 3, 4; second, it will benoted (cf. Figs. III and IV) that member 1 is at the very corner of the pile-two inches, in fact, from each edge; third, that the other three members are so spaced and disposed as to engage small sheets as well as large, and, when engaging large sheets. to sustain them with a minimum amount of sagging. The superiority of thearrangement shown to one in which the four suction members should be placed over the four corners of a large sheet will be apparent to one who considers this matter with the drawings before him the drawings being intended to show operation on large sheets. Members 2 and 4 are so placed that they come to hearing near to the mid line of the sheet, member 4 being somewhat be yond the mid line and nearer the opposite I2 edge, while members 3 and 4 are situated rearward of members 1 and 2 approximately two-thirds the length of the sheet, and member 3, it will be observed (cf. Fig. II) is farther removed from the edge of the sheet than is member 1. The location of member 1 being, for purposes already dcfined, fixed, the locations of the other members are such that the drag of the weight of the sheet, tending to break the suction hold, is as evenly balanced as may be around the rim of each suction cup.

Figs. IV and V show the suction members all down. From these figures attention is di rected to the diagrammatic figures, X-XIV. Fig. X shows the first stage in lifting; suction member 1 alone has risen; the sheet still rests on the pile over the greater part of its extent, but one corner has been raised, and suction conditions are in the way of being relieved. While member 1 is thus rising through its first sta e, the lost motion in the connection to member 2 is being taken up, while the previously compressed springs 17 are expanding and so allowing members 3 and 4 to continue at their lowest positions, Fig. XI shows the second stage; here member 1 continues to rise, and member 2 follows at an interval; members 3 and 4 have not yet begun to rise, for the expansion of springs 17 is still in pro ress. At this stage there is further relief of suction conditions between the top sheet and the sheet immediately beneath. Fig. XII shows members 1, 2, and 3 at successive points of rise, member 4 re maining still unmoved. The rise of member 3 is due to the fact that finger 19 has engaged notch 18 and fu'rther expansion of spring 17 is arrested. Fi XIII shows all four members lifting, an shows further that members 3 and 4 have overtaken members 1 and 2 and brought the sheet to a substantially horizontal position. \Vhen'the members are in this position the spring 1 for member 4 has already fully expanded, and block 15 has already been brought to the end of cylinder 16, but the s ring for member 3 is still locked with blocir 15 short of the end of its traverse. Fig. XIV indicates that, while the other members have risen, member 3 has, relatively to them, descended. This has come about by virtue of the fact that finger 19 has by engagement with abutment 20 been swung, and spring 17 has carried the now unrestrained member downward until its block 15 has come to stop a ainst the head of cylinder 16. The effect 0 this has been to give a sudden warp or wave to the sheet, to the end that, in case the next lower sheet has still continued to adhere (as sometimes is the case) in a union not broken by the manner of lifting, it will now more certainl be re-- leased and will fallback upon the pile.

To give specific figures-Pwhich are given b way of example merely-from the machine which I have built and in which I have demonstrated the practicabilit of my invention, the sheets upon which operate are 20 by 28 inches of 20 gauge. Suction member 1 is arran' d, as I have said, two inches 7 from each e ge; member 2 stands at the same distance from the forward edge of the sheet and 8 inches from member 1; member 3 is 18 inches rearward from member 1 and 5 inches from the side edge of the sheet; and

-member 4 is aligned with member 3 and is spaced 9 inches from it; aocordin 1y it stands 4 inches beyond a lon itudin l line passing through member 2. 'l he lift of the sheet, from the top of the pile to the nether faces of the rollers of the magnetic conve er is 4% inches. Suction member 1 rises 11 inc es before member 2 be ins to rise; member 2 rises g, of an inch be re member 3 begins to rise; member 3 rises inch before member 4 begins to rise. When finger 19 is swung and member 3 is impelled downward b the tension of spring 17, the range of t is downward drive is 11; inch. This occurs when the rising plate is still 1% inches from the faces of the rollers of the magnetic conveyor. The piston within cylinder 25 reaches the limit of its suction strolre and begins to move in opposite direction, when the sheet has been brought to within g of an inch from the rollers of the magnetic conveyer. At that point the sheet is within the secure hold of the conveyer, the ensuin blowing of air through the suction mem ers insures separation of the suction members from the sheet, while the farther rise of the suction members first allows the sheet to come into contact with the rollers of the magnetic conveyer, and then the further rise of the suction members allows the sheet to move freely away in response to the traction exerted by the rollers of the magnetic conv'eyer.

The magnetic conveyer, which cooperates with the suction conveyer now described, consists of a succession of rollers 26 arranged in parallelism, ener ized to attract and hold against their sur aces, in a position tan cut to all, a sheet of steel. These rollers a l rotate in unison, in acommon direction (clockwise, as shown in Figs. I and III), and as they rotate they carry forward, in the direction indicated by" the arrow a a sheet of steel adhering to their nether faces.

The particular formation of these ma netic rollers does not concern me; suc rollers are on the market, and the illustration afforded in Fig, IX is given merely to make the showin com lete. With-in a hollow brass roller is set in axial alignment a succession of electromagnets, alternate in polarity-thatis to say, the negative 8f one adjacent the positive pole of its neighor. able manner. t ap ears that by using screws of steel rather t an of brass penetrating the shell of roller 26 and securing the electromagnets within, the ma netic eflect is rendered more pronounced. n the showin made in Fig. IX, the securing screws allilded to are indicated at 27.

Turning now to Fig. III particularly, it is to be noted that the rollers 26 which constitute the magnetic oonveyer constitute a series which overlies in part at least the pile of sheets; that some of the rollers of the seole These ma nets are energized in suit-.

ries are conveniently arranged between the suction members; and that the arrangement is such as to carry the sheets away in a direction transverse to the direction in which the sheets are carried from the pile and brought into contact with these rollers 26. Ordinarily, the lift of the suction conveyer is vertical, andthe traverse of the sheets in the ma netic conveyor is horizontal. Accordingly the drawings show the rollers 26 horizotnally disposed, and the series extending in horizontal plane. It is manifest that in such particulars the showing is exemplary, and in every case the arrangement will be adapted to the existing conditions.

The rollers 26 may be rotated together in uniform direction and at uniform speed by providing each with a terminal sprocket wheel 28 (of. Fig. IX), and driving all through a common sprocket chain 29 (cf. Fig. II).

The two conveyers describedthe suction conveyor and the magnetic conveyer-may conveniently be driven by a single motor. Explanation has been made, that the suction conveyor is driven by rotation of shaft 5, and that the magnetic conveyer is driven by thesprocket chain 29. Turning now to Figs. I, II, and III, a motor 30 is shown, conveniently mounted on a framework which carries the parts already described. A shaft 31 is rotated by motor 30, through pinions 32 and 33. Shaft 31 carries a pinion 34 and from this pinion rotation is imparted through pinions 35 and 36 to a sprocket wheel 37 which drives sprocket chain 29 (cf. Fig. IV), and, through pinion 38 to shaft 39. Shaft 39 and shaft 5 are connected through one or another pair of two sets of pinions 40 and 41. The set of pinions 41 is s lined to shaft 5 and movable longitudinal y thereon through the clutch mechanism shown in plan in Fig. 11 and generally designated by the reference numeral 42, and the pairs of pinions are of varying relative dimensions, to the end that the relative s eed of the two conveyors may be varied. 11 case the sheets handled are of small dimension, the speed of the suction conveyer relatively to that of the magnetic conveyer may be greater than when the sheets are large. i a

The drawings show a belt conveyor 43, upon which the sheets fall one by one by gravity as they are carried b theseries of magnetic rollers 26 in the irection 1ndicated by the arrow a. This conveyer serves in an exemplary way merely; it will be understood that delivery might be made from themagnetic conveyor directly to the roll pass of a cold-rolling mill, or to any other preferred place of delivery.

It remains only to explain the apparatus which I preferably employ for bringing a pile of sheets to position beneath the Suction conveyer and for maintaining the to of the pile at a substantially constant leve while the sheets are raised one by one from it.

.\ hydraulic ram 44 working in a cylinder .45 is provided, for sustaining the pile of sheets while the conveyor apparatus is engaged in picking them up and carrying them one by oneaway. The ram is raised by a water supply communicated under sufficient head through a pipe 46. In the line of communication through this ipe two valves 47 and 48 are set (cf. Fig. V II), oneof which (47) is held normally open by the tension of a spring 49, the other (48) is held normally closed, by spring 50. In beginning operations, crosshead 12 is caused to descend, and by connections presently to be explained. valve 48 is thereby opened. The water conduit 46 is then brought under the head of the supply automatically or (as by opening a valve 60) manually andthe ram rises under the head applied. until the top of the pile comes to the desired level. The pile there engages the vertically sliding finger 51 (Fig. V) and finger 51 moving operates a lever mechanism through which valve 47 is closed against spring tension, and the rising of the ram ceases. Crosshead 12-carries a link 52 and this link which when the crosshead is down engages a lever mechanism and opens valve 48 against spring tension, releasesas the cross head raises the valve and allows it to close under spring tension. Accordingly, as will now be apparent, in the normal operation of the machine, each full downward stroke of the crosshead 12 (which. it will be remembered, carries suction members 3 and 4) will, through the link 52, open valve 48 against the tension of spring 50. Any fall in level of the top of the pile from the standard maintained by finger 51 will effect opening of valve 47, and, valve 47 being in any degree open, the periodic opening of valve 48 will establish water connection from source through pipe 46 to cylinder 45 and effect rising of the ram. Thus gradually the'ram rises, to compensate for diminution in depth of the pile of sheets upon it, the top of the pile being maintained always at a constant level.

The accuracy of the operation of the parts just described might otherwise fail, in case the valves 47 and 48 or either of them became leaky, were it not for a drain connection 61 which comes to register with the water supply conduit. 46 in case of extreme rise of valve 47 against the tension of spring 49, and relieves the ram of the pressure of the head of water. This emer ncy rise would occur when the pile of s eets, 1mproperl v controlled should rise to a higher level than intended. The drain 61 is then in the nature of an emergency valve checking the rise of the pile and perm1tt1ngoperation to continue, even though either of the valves 47 and 48 should not be properly workin A vs ve 62 Will be provided, and will be under proper control, to the end that the ram cylinder may at will be opened to a drum. and so the ram after its use, and after the conveyer has done its work. may recede.

A car 55 may be rovided to bring a pile of sheets from an adiacent point of delivery to position where the ascendin, rum may ick up the load. Such a car will conveniently he provided with a skeleton frame and with a plurality of removable plates to constitute the platform 56. This car has a range of to and fro movement upon rails above ram ,44; its range however is limited; the Space between the axles of its sustaining wheels at opposite ends is greater than its range of movement, and accordingly neither axle is required to pass across the path of the ram in its rise and fall. The car is moved on its tracks to one end of its range; a pile of sheets built up on a plate 56 is then placed upon it at the end then remote from the ram. The car is then shifted, and the pile brought to position above the then retracted ram. The ram then rises, and in so doing lifts plate 56 with the pile of sheets upon it. The car may then be moved back again to its loading position. Meanwhile the ram in rising brings the pile ofsheets to position, as already explained.

Operation requires no prolonged re hearsal, for the operation of the several parts has in the course of the foregoing description been indicated. To begin with, the ram if not already retracted is caused to descend by opening the cylinder 45 through valve 62 to the drain pipe. Valve 62 is then closed. A load of sheets piled on a plate 56 on car 55 is,.by movement of the car brought to position above ram 44. The crosshead 12 then descends and valve 48 opens. In consequence ram 44 rises and, engaging plate 56, carries it and the pile of sheets upon it upward until the top of the pile, shifting finger 51, effects closure of valve 47. Thereafter, so long as the removal of sheets from the ile continues, the osition of the ram Wlll automatically a just itself, so that the top of the pile will remain at a constant level.

While this continues, the turning of shaft 5 from motor 30 will cause the suction members to descend and ascend periodically, and with each ascent the suction members will raise a single sheet, free it certainly from its next underlying fellow, and bring it into the effective range of the magnetic conveyer.

Thereupon, the suction members will recede, and at the same time the magnetic rollers will carry thesheet in transverse oath to the desired point of delivery, leaving the 'way free for the next descent of the suction members.

As has already been said, the speed of operation of the suction conveyor ma be in creased or decreased at will, relative to the speed of the magnetic conveyor, an herein is accommodation, to gain most effective operation at all times, though the sheets handled vary in size.

When the pile of sheets has been all delivered from the ram (or at any other time). a shifting of valve 62 will cause the ram to descend, and in its descent to leave the plate 56 resting again on the skeleton frame of car 55. suitably stationed beneath.

If two points of sheet supply be established at opposite ends of the range of car movement, the car will remain stationary while the ram is rising and descending again, and while so standing the car ma' receive. on its protruding end (and this wi 1 be alternately, first one end and then the other) a new pile of sheets.

In the ensuing claims I define the essential features of my invention; beyond these essential features, the showing of this specification ismerely exemplary. Variation in non-essentials is permissible, and my inven tion will still be employed if these essential features be present.

I claim as my invention:

1. A conveyor for sheet material includ ing a plurality of suction members movable rectilinearly in lines transverse to the plane of thesheet material to be conveyed, and in their conjoint operation coming successively to such rectilinear movement, sub stantially as described.

2. A conveyer for sheet material including, a plurality of suction members movable from a lower to a higher level and means for imparting to one of said members adownward thrust while the said members are in course of operation and sustaining a sheet of material, substantially as described.

3. A conveyer for sheet material includ ing'a plurality of suction members movable from a lower to a higher level and in their conjoint operation coming successively to the rise, and means for imparting to one of said members a downward thrust while the said members are in course of operation and 311s eluding in its structure a suction device and a magnetic device, said suction device being adapted to on age an article from above and to raise it rom a lower to a higher level, said ma'metic device being adapted to r ceive and to sustain a ainst gravity and to carry away transverse y an article of magnetic material carried toward it from beneath by said suction device.

6. A conveyer for magnetic material including in its structure a structure a suction device and a magnetic device, said suction device being adapted to e age an article from above and to raise it mm a lower to a higher level, said magnetic device being adapted to receive and to sustain against gravity and to carry away transversely an article of magnetic material carried toward it from beneath b said suction device, said suction device in t is range of ascent passing to and beyond the point where the article comes to place relatively to said magnetic device.

7. A conveyer for magnetic material including in its structure a suction device and a magnetic device, said magnetic device including a plurality of horizontally extending magnetic rolls their nether faces disposed in a common horizontal plane, said suction device being vertically movable and bein adapted and arranged to engage an artic e of magnetic material lying at an interval beneath said magnetic device and to raise such article toward said magnetic device, said suction device being movable upward beyond the point at which the elevated article comes to tangency with the rolls of said magnetic device.

8. A conveyer for superposed sheets of magnetic material including, in its structure a plurality of suction members movable from a lower to a higher level andcoming into movement at successive and predetermined intervals, and a magnetic conveyer into the efiectiv-e range of which the sheets are in-- dividuall brou ht by the rise of said suction mem ers, sii bstantially as described.

9. A conveyer including in its structure a vertically movable cup, means for alternately settin up suction and blowing in said cup, means or raising said cup, the means being correlated and suction exerted within the cup during an earlier and blowing durin a later portion of the rise of the cup, su stantially as described.

10. A conveyer including in its structure a vertically moving cup, means for alternately setting up suction and blowing in said cup, means or raising said cup, means for receiving at an intermediate point in its rise from said cu material raised by said cup, the means bein correlated and suction being exerted in said cup until in the range of its rise the material is brought to'the point where the receiving means are located,

and thereafter in the further rise of said cup blowing being established therein substantially as described. I

v 11. A conveyer for magnetic material ineluding in its structure a vertically moving cup, means for alternately settin up in said cup conditions of suction and o blowing, a magnetic conveyer arranged to operate on material raised by said cup while said cup is at an intermediate position in its range of rise, the said means being correlated, and suction conditions maintained in said cap throughout its rise until the material has come within efi'ective ran e of said magnetic conveyer andthereafter uring further rise of said on blowing conditions being maintained wit in it, substantially as described 12. In a conveyer means for elevating one by one a succession of articles, means for carrying the articles away in transverse path as t ey come successively to the high point of their elevation, means for 'driving the elevating and the transversely carrying means, and means for val-yin the relative speed of the said elevating an transversely carrying means, substantially as described.

13. A conveyer for raising from a pile one by one a succession of fiexi 1e sheets, a plurality of suction members, one of said suction members being arranged to-engage the successive sheets at a point adjacent one corner and another of said suction members arranged to enga e the said sheet at a point so related to the rst that the sag on opposite sides thereof shall be equalized, substantially as described.

14. In a conveyer the combination of a carrier movable first toward material to be conveyed and then in sequence in opposite direction, two suction members borne by said carrier and each movable with respect to said carrier, spring-backed connection between one of said members and said carrier, whereby the said member may remain at rest en aging the material to be conveyed while the carrier continues to move toward such material, and means for shifting the other of said members in its bearing in said carrier while said carrier is in course of its sequent oppositely directed movement, substantially as described.

15. In a conveyer the combination of two suction members borne in suitable carrier mechanism, and means adapting said members to conjoint action upon material presenting irregularities of surface, such means consisting of yielding connection between each of said members and its carrier, means for locking one of said members to said carrier mechanism while the other continues in yielding connection therewith, and for sub se uently releasing the member first identifie h from such locking, substantially as described.

16. In a conveyer the combination of three suction members borne in suitable carrier mechanism, yielding connection between the second and the third of said members and the carrier mechanism, whereby, while the first member is lifting the second and the third may continue to exert downward stress upon said material, means for locking the second of said members to said carrier mechanism while the third member continues in 'yieldin connection therewith, and for subsequent? releasing said second member from such loching, substantially as described.

17. In a conveyer for superposed sheets of material means for raising the sheets one by one, and means for impartin a warping movement to a sheet while heh in suspension, substantially as described.

18. In a conveyer for superposed sheets of material, means for raising the sheets one by one beginnin at one corner of the sheet and progressive y raising remaining portions and means for imparting a war in movement to the sheet when fully raise substantially as described.

19. A conveyer for magnetic material includinip, a magnetic member adapted to receive rom beneath a sheet ofmagnetic material and to carry it away transversely, and a suction cup adapted to enga e a sheet of material from above, and to e evate it vertically, the said magnetic member and the said cup being so relatively arranged that a sheet borne and elevated by said cup is engaged by said magnetic member before the said cup has reached the limit of its upward traverse.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN W. FREE. Witnesses:

BAYARD H. Cmusry, FRANCIS J. TOMABSON.

Certificate of Correction.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,442,718, granted Jennery, 16, Q9211, upon the n lication of John W. Free, of Woodlewn, ennsylvanie, for an unprovement in Conveyors, an emr ap are in the printed -apecificetion reg correction as follows: Page 5, line 9 beginning with the .word releases qumn strike out all to and includin the word tension line 98, and insert instead the words release; the val/0e art a mailed rises and allows the valv'e to close Mr W tam'bn; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this carrectlon therein that the aeine may conform to the record of the case in the Patent sighed a sealed thie 1am day of March, A. 1)., 1923.

[mm] KARL FENNIHG,

Acting Uommiuimr of Pam. 

